SACRAMENTO -- Sacramento State right-hander Eli Saul was selected in the 13th round of the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft on Tuesday, taken with the 378th overall pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Vancouver, British Columbia, native becomes the seventh Hornet pitcher taken in the Major League draft over the last four years and the second consecutive year that Arizona has selected a Sacramento State hurler as Saul joins Scott Randall, who was taken in the seventh round (No. 198 overall) in 2021 and is currently with the High-A Hillsboro Hops in the Northwest League. He becomes the third Hornet ever to be selected by the Diamondbacks, joining Randall and right-hander Chris Kinsey, who was taken in the fourth round (No. 126 overall) in 2003.
A two-year starter for the Hornets, Saul finished the 2022 campaign with a 6-1 overall record and a 3.71 ERA, striking out 66 batters in 87.1 innings to go along with eight "quality starts" and a .career-best .241 average against. Sacramento State was a perfect 14-0 in Saul's starts in 2022 before falling in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament opener to Sam Houston State in a 2-1 pitcher's duel, while the right-hander's 6-0 start made Saul the first Hornet pitcher to open with six straight wins since Ty Nichols in 2015.
Saul went the distance for his first career complete game in an 8-5 win at Grand Canyon on May 6, striking out four, and went at least seven innings on four other occasions. He struck out a season-high nine on Feb. 25 in a 1-0 series-opening win at then-No. 6 Long Beach State, scattering just four hits and walking only one in a no-decision.
He ended the year ranked sixth in the WAC in ERA, tied for eighth in victories, and fourth in innings pitched.
As a second-year freshman, Saul started 13 of his 16 appearances, finishing 2-4 overall and striking out 38 over 50 innings, and was 1-1 in five appearances as a freshman (two starts), striking out six over 7.1 innings.
Overall, he started 30 of his 36 career appearances over three years in the green and gold, finishing with a 9-6 record and 110 strikeouts in 144.2 innings.
With Saul's selection on Tuesday, Sacramento State has now had at least one player selected in 10 of the last 11 Major League drafts, with a player chosen every year except for the pandemic-shortened 2020 event. At least on Hornet has been drafted or signed as a free agent in each of the last 15 years and in 19 of the last 20 seasons.
